Strom deals with the Oder habitat from the point of view of change. The Oder, whose name translates roughly to "the river that constantly changes its course", is not only confronted with natural changes in its course, but also with the effects of human activity. The complex consequences that arise from this relationship represent the central interest of this series.

Artificial Romance explores our complex, interwoven, and increasingly artificial relationship with the natural world. Our treatment of non-human beings is fraught with ambivalence. Nature can procure song and prose, yearning, nostalgia and memory. We use it to adorn our homes, decorate our urban spaces, and as material to build with and upon. We transform, destroy and multiply nature, consciously and unconsciously leave an irreversable imprint. This projects seeks out the intersections of nature and civilization, attempts at it’s integration and appropriation into our own realm, and the search for our own place within it.

Trees are planted for decorative and functional purposes in urban and suburban spaces the world over. They look beautiful in their perfects rows, bursting from manacured lawns or shading crosswalks along busy streets. But due to their slow growth, little movement, appearing perhaps as static, it is hard to discern their health or well being. Would they be better off alongside their kin in a forest? Their roots connected, sharing nutrients, communicating?